A contingent of airmen and four KC-135 tankers from Air Force Reserve Command’s 434th Air Refueling Wing at Grissom ARB, Ind., completed a four-month deployment May 1 to Andersen AFB, Guam, where they provided refueling support to US aircraft in the Pacific region. Replacing the Grissom force is a similar package of Reservists and tankers from the 452nd Air Mobility Wing at March ARB, Calif. During their time on Guam, the Grissom tanker force flew more than 160 missions, including participation in 10 exercises, and supplied more than eight million pounds of fuel to B-2s, B-52s, F-16s, and F-22s and additional airframes. “The operations tempo here was very high, with lots of higher headquarters directed missions, but the unit really pulled together to make this one of the best deployments to Andersen that I have been on,” said Lt. Col. Laen August, expeditionary commander. The 434th ARW sent two self-sustaining teams of more than 100 airmen each for 60 day periods to cover the four-month assignment. (Andersen report by SrA. Ryan Whitney)
The Air Force and Boeing agreed to a nearly $2.4 billion contract for a new lot of KC-46 aerial tankers on Nov. 21. The deal, announced by the Pentagon, is for 15 new aircraft in Lot 11 at a cost of $2.389 billion—some $159 million per tail.